Slowness of recovery of Katrina dead criticized
Tue Sep 13, 2005 2:45 PM ET
BATON ROUGE, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Louisiana's governor condemned the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday for moving too slowly to recover the dead from New Orleans and has signed a contract directly on behalf of the state with the recovery company originally hired by FEMA.
"I have taken action today to resolve a matter that involves life, death and dignity," Kathleen Blanco told reporters at a meeting of state elected officials.
"I can not stand by while this vital operation is not being handled appropriately."
Blanco said she has signed a contract with Kenyon International Emergency Services after the company threatened to pull out of the state because it had not yet signed a formal contract with FEMA.
Asked about the issue, FEMA spokesman David Passey said: "From what I understand, Kenyon had some questions about the contract."
He said from the beginning FEMA had expected Louisiana to take the lead in the collection of bodies and FEMA was satisfied that the state had signed a contract with the company.
"I don't know the exact nature of the contract concerns. We made our best effort to engage Kenyon in a contract," he said.
The fact that the state had signed a contract with Kenyon would allow federal mortuary teams to "get on with what they do best," the identification of the dead.
Blanco did not give details of the financial arrangements of the state's contract with Kenyon, and spokespeople for the company were not immediately available to comment.
Kenyon said on Sept. 7 it had been hired by FEMA for recovery services.
FEMA has become the target of strong criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the hurricane, which struck the U.S. Gulf coast two weeks ago, killing hundreds and displacing 1 million people in the nation's worst natural disaster.
FEMA director Michael Brown, whose work was initially praised by President George W. Bush, resigned on Monday.
Bush himself took responsibility on Tuesday for failures in the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and acknowledged the storm exposed serious deficiencies at all levels of government four years after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Link Here
BATON ROUGE, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Louisiana's governor condemned the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday for moving too slowly to recover the dead from New Orleans and has signed a contract directly on behalf of the state with the recovery company originally hired by FEMA.
"I have taken action today to resolve a matter that involves life, death and dignity," Kathleen Blanco told reporters at a meeting of state elected officials.
"I can not stand by while this vital operation is not being handled appropriately."
Blanco said she has signed a contract with Kenyon International Emergency Services after the company threatened to pull out of the state because it had not yet signed a formal contract with FEMA.
Asked about the issue, FEMA spokesman David Passey said: "From what I understand, Kenyon had some questions about the contract."
He said from the beginning FEMA had expected Louisiana to take the lead in the collection of bodies and FEMA was satisfied that the state had signed a contract with the company.
"I don't know the exact nature of the contract concerns. We made our best effort to engage Kenyon in a contract," he said.
The fact that the state had signed a contract with Kenyon would allow federal mortuary teams to "get on with what they do best," the identification of the dead.
Blanco did not give details of the financial arrangements of the state's contract with Kenyon, and spokespeople for the company were not immediately available to comment.
Kenyon said on Sept. 7 it had been hired by FEMA for recovery services.
FEMA has become the target of strong criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the hurricane, which struck the U.S. Gulf coast two weeks ago, killing hundreds and displacing 1 million people in the nation's worst natural disaster.
FEMA director Michael Brown, whose work was initially praised by President George W. Bush, resigned on Monday.
Bush himself took responsibility on Tuesday for failures in the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and acknowledged the storm exposed serious deficiencies at all levels of government four years after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Link Here
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 4:57 PM
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